The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.

The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.

The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol).
Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07KAMPALA240.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000240
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUMPREFPRELMOPSASECCASCEAIDUGSU
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (January 27-February 9, 2007)
¶1. Summary: Post presents the thirteenth edition of Northern Uganda
Notes to provide information on the situation on the ground and USG
activities aimed at meeting Mission's objectives in northern Uganda.
These objectives include promoting regional stability through peace
and security, good governance, access to social services, economic
growth, and humanitarian assistance. Post appreciates feedback from
consumers on the utility of this product and any gaps in information
that need to be filled. End Summary.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESSES
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
¶2. The Juba negotiations have yet to resume because the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) refused to return to Juba. The LRA continues
to insist on a venue change to Kenya or South Africa and the
replacement of Sudanese mediator Riek Machar. In an effort to
encourage the parties back to the negotiating table, the European
diplomatic missions in Kampala called on the parties to resume the
talks and find a long-term solution compatible with local community
wishes, national laws, and the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court. The Department's press statement released on
February 1 raising concern that shifting the talks or replacing the
mediator will prolong the suffering of the northern Uganda people,
sparked an "emergency" meeting of the LRA delegates camped in
Nairobi, according to spokesman Godfrey Ayoo. The Kenyan Government
also subsequently issued a statement that it would not host the
peace talks on February 4. The LRA is focusing its efforts on
changing the venue to South Africa.
¶3. Vincent Otti stated that if the GOU does not want to move the
peace talks, then "that is the end of the peace talks. We need
somewhere else. If they reject, we can go back to war." The LRA
leader may have been reacting to comments by President Museveni on
local radio in Gulu that he was considering "Plan B", a military
option.
- - - - - - - -
SECURITY UPDATE
- - - - - - - -
¶4. The numbers of night commuters have decreased to 2,700 in
December 2006, according to UNICEF. These numbers are down from
23,885 in December 2005. UNICEF cites the improved security
situation for the dramatic decrease. Surveys done by
non-governmental organizations indicate children that continue to
commute do so for reasons other than fear of abduction. Some face
protection issues such as domestic violence. Other reasons are the
desire to be with peers in a well-lit environment, and availability
of services.
¶5. Reports of small groups of LRA in northern Uganda continue.
District officials reportedly made contact with a small group of 15
LRA near Atanga IDP camp in Pader District that never moved out of
northern Uganda. Members of the group told the officials that they
only wanted food and were not in the area to cause problems. Action
Contre le Faim (ACF) said it made contact with a group near Koch
Goma camp in Amuru District. Despite reports and sightings of LRA,
UNHCR, and UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA) report no discernible IDP movement from new sites back to
established IDP camps.
¶6. Alice Lakwena, the founder of the Holy Spirit Movement and
cousin to LRA leader Joseph Kony, who died on January 18 in a
refugee camp in Kenya, was buried in her ancestral home in Gulu
district on February 3. The Government of Uganda arranged the
return of Lakwena's body from Kenya and paid for the burial costs.
¶7. Re-establishing rule of law and a functioning judicial system is
moving slowly and illustrates other coordination and planning
problems that are arising. Local district officials are concerned
that newly arrived constables have no food and are dependent on
either the military or WFP for rations. UN Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights reports that the paralegals with the
Legal Aid Project assisting the courts in Gulu have stopped work
because they have not been paid by the Uganda Law Society. The
paralegals have been assisting judges recently deployed to Gulu to
remove the backlog of court cases.
¶8. USG Activities: Embassy poloff attended a briefing by the UN
Resident Coordinator on February 1. He said that the various
sightings of small groups of LRA in northern Uganda caused the UN
humanitarian organizations to rethink and prepare for the worst case
scenario. This scenario would be precipitated by the failure of the
peace talks and immediate resumption of hostilities in southern
KAMPALA 00000240 002 OF 003
Sudan or a violent attack perpetrated by the LRA in northern Uganda.
The UPDF might force IDPs back into camps and the humanitarian
situation deteriorates. In the UN's most likely scenario, some form
of the cessation of hostilities agreement is maintained. The
security situation improves and the peace talks continue at a slow
pace. Spontaneous population movements increase.
¶9. During the same briefing on security issues, Acting Permanent
Secretary for Foreign Affairs James Mugume told poloffs that
SIPDIS
Congolese President Joseph Kabila promised that he would work with
Uganda to resolve the LRA issue peacefully at The Great Lakes Summit
in Nairobi.
¶10. On February 8, USAID's Peace Support Team met with five female
parliamentarians from northern Uganda who recently traveled to the
U.S. as part of the Initiative for Inclusive Security. Their
recommendations include ensuring a minimum of one-third women's
participation in the formal negotiating teams at Juba, inclusion of
women on the confidence-building teams, and support for expanded
local processes to prepare communities for peace, reconciliation,
and reintegration of soldier, abductees, and IDPs. The group also
called for increased representation of women on the Joint Monitoring
Committee and the Peace, Recovery, and Development Program of the
North.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
¶11. The Government continues to lack a clear, consistent message on
returns. The Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Refugees
traveled to northern Uganda on February 1 and said that he would
like to see as many IDPs return as soon as possible to their land.
At the same time, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) in Kitgum
has only approved 33 areas safe for return. Coordination problems
among UN Agencies persist, often resulting in an incomplete
understanding of the dynamics of population movements with the
potential result of poorly conceived funding decisions leading to
inappropriate interventions. Humanitarian organizations were
reporting that population movements in the Acholi sub-region
continue unrestricted with the exception of Kitgum District.
¶12. USG Activities: Ambassador Browning launched USAID's Global
Development Alliance with Coca-Cola on January 23. The $500,000
private-public partnership, The Northern Uganda Watersprings
Initiative, will improve access to potable water for returning
communities.
¶13. USAID's Deputy Director launched the private-public GDA with
Dunavant, the largest cotton purchaser in the world, on January 30.
The $1.9 million project, including USAID's $550,000 contribution,
is opening up 12,000 acres of land for 12,000 internally-displaced
persons for cotton and food crops.
¶14. USAID/OFDA approved $1.3 million for the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) to purchase and distribute tools and seeds. The
tools are needed to clear land that has remained fallow for many
years prior to the March planting season.
¶15. Office of Food for Peace approved a contribution for World Food
Program Uganda's protracted Relief and Recovery Operation of $4.4
million for Fiscal Year 2007. To date, Food for Peace has
contributed 22,850 metric tons of emergency food aid to WFP Uganda
at a value of $17 million.
¶16. An USAID/OFDA technical assistance team traveled to Kitgum,
Pader, and Gulu to study water, sanitation, and food security issues
to determine FY07 funding for these sectors. The team also met with
the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa civil affairs teams,
the Minister of State for Water Resources, and various
non-government organizations and district officials. Some of the
team's recommendations included: continued flexibility in OFDA's
response to the northern Uganda situation; more emphasis on
sustainable low-cost, hand-dug wells; protection of water sources;
rehabilitation of hand-pumps; hygiene promotion; public-private
partnerships to enhance sustainability of motorized pump systems;
and the provision of tools and seeds to returnees.
¶17. The State Department's Office of Diplomatic Security formally
approved the opening of a temporary office in Gulu by USAID. This
office will be staffed by one expatriate and five local employees
and will be housed in the Bank of Uganda building.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
FROM THE MEDIA AND WEB
KAMPALA 00000240 003 OF 003
- - - - - - - - - - - -
¶18. Several countries, including the U.S. and Canada issued press
statements to encourage the parties to resume the peace talks.
¶19. The Department released the following statement on February 1.
"The United States appreciates the Government of South Sudan's
efforts to mediate a peaceful resolution of the 20-year old conflict
with the LRA. We have followed closely the many rounds of the
GOSS-mediated talks to date in Juba. We are concerned that demands
to change the mediator and the venue of the talks will only delay
peace in the region and further the suffering of displaced northern
Ugandans. Our priority remains peace in northern Uganda. We
continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced persons
living in LRA-affected areas, promote reconciliation, and support
the reintegration of former abductees and ex-combatants into their
communities."
¶20. Also on February 1, Canada released this statement from
Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay. "The current peace process
represents the best opportunity in two decades to build a lasting
and peaceful solution to the conflict in northern Uganda. This
opportunity must not be lost, since a return to hostilities would be
tragic for the people of Uganda and other areas affected by the
hostilities, including Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Canada supports the continuation of the talks in Juba and calls upon
all parties to make progress toward a final negotiated settlement."
¶21. The NGO Invisible Children launched a campaign to match 1,000
U.S. secondary schools with counterparts in northern Uganda and
southern Sudan. For top fundraising schools, Invisible Children is
offering an all expenses paid trip to northern Uganda during the
summer of 2007 to rebuild schools for which they collected
donations.
BROWNING